Ralph Byrd

Ralph Byrd, then riding high as the screen's Dick Tracy, stars as Tony Bronson, a pilot whose plane is hijacked mid-flight over the Caribbean by a gang after the payroll he's carrying. When the plane goes down on a remote island, Bronson has to outwit the hijackers with help from a stranded showgirl troupe. Directed by William Beaudine — the famously tireless "One Shot" of Poverty Row — Desperate Cargo is a brisk PRC programmer that packs a hijacking, a crash, and a jungle standoff into barely an hour. The film's copyright was never renewed, placing it in the public domain.

Adventure · Crime · Thriller

Chapter one, "The Spider Strikes," of the 15-chapter Republic serial. Plainclothes detective Dick Tracy hunts the masked criminal mastermind known as the Spider, who has kidnapped his brother and threatened the city. Ralph Byrd stars as Chester Gould's square-jawed hero in the first Dick Tracy screen serial. The serial entered the public domain through non-renewal.

Action · Crime · Adventure

The fourth and final RKO Dick Tracy feature, and the only one to star Boris Karloff. A convicted killer called Gruesome gets his hands on a canister of experimental nerve gas that freezes anyone who breathes it mid-action, and uses it to stage a bank robbery in which the customers and staff stand paralyzed while the vault is cleaned out. Tess Trueheart witnesses the robbery and barely escapes, bringing Dick Tracy onto the case. Ralph Byrd, who had played Tracy in the Republic serials, returns to the role here. Karloff's presence gives the picture a jolt of real menace that the series had lacked, and the gas gimmick is a neat piece of B-noir plotting. Released in 1947, the film is in the public domain in the United States.

Crime · Mystery · Thriller